Members of Parliament allied to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) say they are not interested in initiating an impeachment process despite Thursday’s five-judge bench ruling.
The court, in a judgement that was read virtually for more than four hours on Thursday, said the 14-member BBI task force and the steering committee led by former Garissa Senator, the late Yusuf Haji, was an illegal entity, unknown to the law.
The bench led by Justice Joel Ngugi said the President made a fatal legal mistake in attempting to change the Constitution through a popular initiative, an avenue that is not available to him.
The President was also cited for breach of the Constitution – an impeachable offence.
Yesterday, MPs Alice Wahome (Kandara) and Sylvanus Osoro (South Mugirango) said the judgement was a big win for the Kenyan people as well as for the judiciary.
“We celebrate the judiciary. They have redeemed the nation from the shackles of dictatorship. You cannot make the constitution-making process your own bid. The document belongs to Kenyans. Ordinary Kenyans have been talking about all these issues.”
Ms Wahome said the President cannot turn such a process into a political tool to fight those who are deemed politically incorrect. “Our team is not interested in the impeachment process but we need President Uhuru Kenyatta to come out clear and state on some issues.”
“The President was found to have breached the integrity and provisions of chapter six of the Constitution. The Head of State has violated the Constitution. Let him start by appointing judges. He has failed an honorary duty.”
Osoro said the Bill was gazetted by the Executive against the wishes of many Kenyans. “we are on record in parliament that we wanted to know who gave the President powers to initiate such a process. They have wasted public resources to change the law illegally. “
According to Osoro, moving forward, the President should explain how to recover the money that has been spent in the process and outline the time frame on how to solve the mess that has been created.
“Any Kenyan can push the motion to impeach the President but for now we have better things to do for now. The arrogance among some leaders surrounding the president has been put on hold. The blame is squarely on the Country’s Attorney General.”
He added: “The brave judges have given this Country time to celebrate. This is a jurisprudence across the world. Give people options on what they want to change.”
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